Casting apparatus for use in machines for casting chocolate and the like



Feb. 1, 1944. K. c. s. AASTED 2,340,501

CASTING APPARATUS FOR USE IN MACHINES FOR CASTING CHOCOLATE AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 10, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 1, 1944. K. c. s. AASTED ,50

CASTING APPARATUS FOR USE IN MACHINES FOR CASTING CHOCOLATE AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 10, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb.'l, 1944. KC. S..AASTED CASTING APPARATUS FOR USE IN MA CHOCOLATE AND THE 2,340,501 CHINES FDR CASTING LIKE 4 Sheets- Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 10. 1940 Patented Feb. 1, 1944 CASTING APPARATUS CHINES FOR CASTING CHOCOLATE AND THE LIKE FOR USE IN MA- Kai Christian Sophus Aasted, Gentofte, near Copenhagen, Denmarktvested in the Alien Property Custodian Application August 10, 1940, Serial No. 352,165

In Denmark February 27, 1939 3 Claims. My inventionlrelates to a casting apparatus for use in machines for casting chocolate and i the like.

,. In a known type of such machines the casting is performedby means of a reciprocating piston working in a stationary cylinder by applying a slide which is controlled exactly in relation to the mould cavities in a row of mould plates which by means of a conveyor belt are moved at a constant speed past the casting head and through a refrigerating chamber. Here the difficulty is encountered that in machines in which the conveyor runs at a considerable speed owing to the capacity, a very short time is available for the casting in each mould cavity, especially when these are. arranged in close proximity. On this account it has been proposed to lengthen the time available for the casting by giving the casting head an oscillatory movement, thereby following the conveyor during the casting process. Since the time period for the suction stroke of the pistons is shortened however th advantage of such means is limited.

The main object of the present invention is to avoid this drawback and to provide a casting apparatus which may operate at a considerable speed and by which th discharge from the apparatus can be exactly timed in accordance with the speed of the conveyor and the arrangement of the mould cavities in the mould plates. v

A further object is to provide an apparatus in which the discharge jets can be suddenly broken so that moistening of the mould plates and the conveyor by afterdripping or so-called tailing is obviated.

A still further object is to provide an apparatus of the kind mentioned which can readily be adjusted to cast chocolate bodies of various sizes and configuration in accordance with the kind of mould plates arranged on the conveyor.

I According to the invention a rotary pump is utilized instead of the reciprocating pumps hitherto used. For the object in question it is preferable to use a special embodiment of such pump, as will be described later on.

The invention is illustrated by way of examples in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. I shows'a casting pump according to my invention in cross-section,

Fig. 2 shows partly a longitudinal section of thesame along the line II-II in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 shows a modified embodiment for an insertion piece shown at the bottom of Fig. 2,

Fig. is,on a reduced scale, a side elevation of a casting. apparatus with apump as sho in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig.5 is an end view of the same,

Fig. 6 shows, partly schematically, the drive mechanism of the apparatus of Figs. 4 and 5,

Figs. '7 and 8 show modified embodiments of certain cam discs shown in Fig. 6, used in connection with an improved mode of operationof the apparatus,

Fig. 9 shows part of an arm used in connection with a slightly modified embodiment of the casting pump, as seen from the innerv side of the arm,

Fig. 10 shows a longitudinal section of part of said embodiment, the upper part of the rotary body of the pump being not cut through, i Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the pump according to the last named embodiment and, partly schematically, the corresponding driv mechanism.

The pump, shown in Figs- 1 and 2, consists of a casing ID, in the walls of which are formed recesses 12 for containing a heating medium serving to keep the mass, e. g. chocolate, contained in the casing in a liquid state. In bores M in the end walls of the casing I0 is arranged an annular body [6 which can be driven by a gear wheel l8. At the circumference of the body [6 is found a number of axially spaced rows of radiaily arranged cylinder bores 20, each containing a piston 22. The piston rods 24 of these pis tons project into the free central space 26 of the body it, each carrying a roller 28 at the free end. The rollers of all pistons in an axial row may have a common pivot pin 30, as shown in Fig. 2.

On side of the casinglli forms a tight seal against the annular body I 6, see Fig. 1, while at the other side the casing forms a chamber. 32 extending along a considerable part of the circumference of the body l6, said chamber'serving tooccupy th chocolate. The transition to the tightly sealing part of the casing I0 is formed by an inclined face 33 which adjoins the circumference of the body l6 tangentially to prevent jamming of solid particles in the chocolate. At the bottom the last named part of the casing forms, for each circumferential row of cylinder bores 20, a cavity 34 which extends over the open ends of two successive cylinder bores 20, as it appears from Fig. 1. The cavities 34 are closed below by an insertion piece 36 secured removably to the bottom of the casing Ill. According to Fig. 2, this piece 36 is so formed that each cavity 34 has its own outlet'38. In the altered single outlet 33' which thus is common for more axially successive cylinder bores 28.

For moving the pistons 22 a beam til is arranged in axial direction in the central space 2'5 of the body It, said beam being supported in a floating manner at its ends on square studs 52, as will be explained later on. On one side of the beam 4!] is formed a cam by which the pistons 22 are displaced to the top position as they are moved past the cavities 34, the pistons being normally held in the bottom position by springs 46, one of which only is shown in Fig. 1.

Suitably the cam 44 is so formed that a piston 22 is moved from the bottom position when the free end. of theappertaining'cylinder bore 20 in its whole width has connection with thea'ppertaining cavity 34 and that this piston is moved from the bottom position to the top position during thertime. in which the free end of the cylinder with its whole area has connection with the cavity 34 during the rotation of the body It. Furthermore the cam 4 3 is so shaped that the pistons driven by it are moved at a constant speed when the body is turned at a constant speed.

:By the pump described a uniform output of the chocolate through the outlets 38 will take place a when the body I6 is rotated, and when the body is turned stepwise the required casting in portions of thechocolatewill be obtained. For this procedure the length of each step is of no consequence and the pump according to my inventionthus has the advantage that the quantity of chocolate .to becast can be determined in a simple manner, viz. solely by the angle of rotation for each casting.

.As it appears from Fig. 4 over the casing i9 is arranged a hopper'48 so that the casting apparatus may contain a great quantity of chocolate. The casing It] is supported by brackets 56 in relation. to a stationary frame t2, past which is moved the conveyor belt 54 of the apparatus, carryingm'ould plates 56 containing mould cavities, vide Fig. 5. In the brackets 59 the drive mechanism of the apparatus is mounted.

The gearwheel l8 arranged on the end of the body it intermeshes with a gear wheelia at the endiof a shaft 60 journalled in the brackets 53. Bymeans of a number of gears 52 with different gearings. this shaft is driven from a shaft 64 carrying. a ratchet wheel 65. As schematically shownin Fig. 6 the ratchet wheel 66 is driven by .apawl 68 pivoted on a lever 79- swingable on the shaft 84. This lever is pivotally connected t o a push rod 12. the position of which furthermore isdetermined by it being hinged to a link 14. which at the present may be regarded as swingable on. a stationary pin 16. At its free endthe push rod 12 carries a roller 78 running on the circumference of a cam disc 89- fixed to a shaft 82. This shaft runs synchronously with theconveyor 54.

7. It is evident, that when the shaft 82 is driven in. the. direction indicated by an arrow the cam discilfl will move the pawl 68 to and fro through theintermedium of the push rod 12- and the leverlll. that that the pawl as a one-way drive will move the ratchet wheel 66 step by step whereby in turn the body It, Figs. 1 and 2, is movedstepwise. If, asshown in Fig. 5, by a clutch 8,3 is interposed a gear 62 with the gearing ratio 1:1, thebody [6 will be advanced one pitch forneachmovementof the pawl wheel 66. By

each casting operation thus a single axial row of the pistons 22 will be active.

As it appears from Figs. 4-6 the beam 40 at its end studs '32 is suspended in two-armed levers '84 swingable on stationary pivots 86. Through the intermedium of suitable joints and nuts these levers by means of screw "spindles 8 3 are connected with another set two-armed levers 9B which with rollers 92 rest on cam discs 94 on the shaft 82. Thebeam 40 with the cam 44 thus is temmed by a link system 84, as, at in such manner that the level of the beam is determined by the cam discs 94.

These latter are so shaped that the beam 40 and thus the cam 54 suddenly will be lifted, that is tosay retracted in'relation to the pistons 22 with which'the cam co-acts. at. the end of each casting period, the object of this being to obtain a rapid interruption of the casting process. Hereby the speed of the jets passing through the outlets will decrease to zero at the end of the casting period and when the jets are broken at the mouths of the outlets, the surface of the chocolate will be retractedand form a concave surface, as it is indicated in Fig. 1, and thus a perfect and exact breaking of the jet is secured and afterdripping is obviated.

After the sudden lifting the beam 40 must be returned to its original position, which in accordance with the sha e of the cam discs 94 is brought about by a s low lowering during the succeeding delivery-stroke of the pistons 22 in the next row.

.The screw spindles have right. hand threads on one half part and lefthand threads on the other half part and at the middle. they carry Worm wheels 95 adjustable by. Worms 98 on a common shaft l 96; by means. of a hand wheel I82 arranged at the end 'of the shaft, vide especially Fig. 5. Hereby it is possible to adjust the level of the beam 4d and the cam 44, and thus the stroke of 'thepistons and thequantity of chocolate at each casting operation.

AS it is necessary to r tain a constant relation between the rotary velocity of theshaft 82-and the feed velocity of the conveyor 5.4 and, onthe other hand, it isde sireg that the length. of the i i g, p d nbevaried without altering the shapeoftlie cam disc Q9, according. to. my. inven--.

tion spcial a $...e e provided; by. which the end or th p'usu rod ILEQQDerating with the cam disc 3Q, can be swung to and fro in. the plane of the cam disc in rhythm the reciprocating movement of the pawl; fifl sdthat theaotion j h am d is liafi dl r etarded. These means comprise an arm lflfi swingable. on a stafilOIlZtlfy pivot I64, said arrnrestina a ainst a cam disc l l d on the shaft 82by meansof; a roller; I118;

By a link. he ar ils don e ed an m i en, ulj t l a tied. ltwmch. as shown in Fig. 5, is jtutnau q t right bracket 5e and a bea in H8. At its lefthfdllindthe shaft lit earnest. cross-piece I29 witha longitudinal undercut notch I22 in wn ciftii fpiij 1E;

canbe secured in arbitrary positionsby meansvof a hand wheel I24.

When the rollerliisuruns-on the rotating-cam disc It the arm I!!! andthusithes h aft H6 an the cross piece IElIarei S'Wung t0 and at. If the pin '55 is located co-axia'll'y tothe shaft H6, this is of no influenceon the co-fopration between the roller it-and the cam disc 8i] and thedriv'e. In'eche anism functions as previo sly described. If, on the contrary, thepin ltis adjusted excentrically inrelationto the sha ft lit he push rod 12will be swung to and fro about/its left hand end "and tim the roller is wmrun mo ra ids-oi slowly along the curved part 'of the cam disc '80 so that th'e'time for the active advancingmovement of the pawl wheel 66 is shortened 'or' lengthened, respectively, whereby the length of the casting pe-' r-iodof'the pump is subjected to a corresponding variation.

Whenthe drive mechanism is arranged as de scribed, one casting will occur foreach mould plate-56 on the conveyor 54. This is suitable for casting relative great chocolate cakes ill'WhiCh the mould cavities occupy the greater part of the width of the mould plates56. -In casting smaller chocolate pieces, in order to obtain the greatest possible capacity of the apparatusyit is necessary to arrange more mould cavities crosswise on eachparts a with increasing radius'vector and two' parts b with constant radius vector. on the last mentioned disc 94' three projections c are found instead of a single one. 1

By the alteration described. the quantity of chocolate for each casting period will be reduced to one third. i However, this can be remedied, if required, by interposing other gears .62.. instance a gear with a gearing ratio of 1 :3 is interposed so that the rotary speed of the pump is increasedrelative to the rotary speed of the pawl wheel 66 the previous quantity'for each-casting operation will again be reached.

From th above stated it will appear. that the apparatus can be suited to any number of mould cavities. crosswise to the mould plates, it means in the direction of movement of th conveyor. By application of different insertion pieces 36, furthermore, an adaptation can be obtained to different numbers of mould cavities longitudinally to the mould plates. Thus the insertion piece 36 shown in Fig. 2 is suited for twelve cavities lengthwise while the insertion piece 36' of Fig. 3 is suited for four such cavities, which corresponds to the division of the mould plate 56 shown in Fig. 5.

The modified embodiment of the pump, shown in Fig. 10, differs from that described above therein, that the pistons are formed as plungers I26, the inner ends of which are secured to a beam I28 arranged in axial direction in the central space in the body I6. This body, as hitherto, is driven by means of the gear wheel I8. The ends of the beam I28 is formed as pivots carrying rotatable rollers I30. The operative movement of the plungers I26 is produced by cams co-opcrating with the rollers I30. Each roller I30 is moved in the inward direction during the rotation of the body I6 by the inner edge face of a cam I32 at the end of an arm I34 secured to the end of the casing I0.

When the plungers I26 are to perform their discharge stroke the roller I30 is moved in the outward direction by a curved notch I31 in a cam-piece I36 secured to the inner side of an arm I38 pivoted on a stud I40 secured to a bracket I42 on the casing I0. The shape of the notch I3! is best seen in Fig. 9. When the arms I38 are held stationary and the body I6 is rotated,

as described in connectionwith the first embodiment, the suction stroke taking place when the free ends-of the cylinder bores have connection-- tothe chamber 32 containing the chocolate, the:

discharge stroke occurring when the free ends of the cylinder=bores are connected to the cavities 34 as previously explained. r The drive mechanism'shown in Fig. 11 contains a drivingshaft I44 moved synchronously with the conveyor of the casting machine by means of a gear wheel I46. The shaft I44 is journalled in-a suitable mannernot shown in Fig. 11. The'same applies to -'the other shafts shown in the sam figure and mentioned laterorn To the shaft I44 is secured a cam I48co'opcrating witha roller I50 on anarm I52 swingable on a shaft I54. To the arm I52 is secured a ledge I56 co-acting with a roller I58. latter roller is carried by a slide-I60 displaceable in aslot I62 in a coupling member I64 co-operating w ith an-' other coupling member I 66 secured to a shaft I68, by means ofspring pressed rollers I10 and inclined faces forming a one-way clutch in the well known manner. By means of a-spring, schematically shown at I12, the member I64 is swung in the clockwise direction, by which move ment the-clutch inactive. The shaft" I68 is in driving connection with another shaft I'I4by gears I16. The shaftl'l4' 'carries a gear wheel I18 which intermesheswith the gear wheel I8 at the clutch member I64. When th'eslide I60 00- cupies the position shown in the slot I62 the distance from the contact point of the roller I58 to the axis of the shaft I54 is comparatively short and the distance from the said point to the axis of th shaft I68 is comparatively long and thus a certain angle of oscillation of the arm I52 produced by the cam I48 will produce a comparatively small angle of oscillation of the coupling member I64. If now, by means of a screw spindle I80, the slide I60 is moved to the inner end of the slot I62, the same angle of oscillation of the arm I52 will produce a comparatively great angle of oscillation of the member I64. The rotation of the annular body I6 at each step of movement thereof will be proportional to the extent of each oscillatory movement of the coupling member I64.

If a still smaller rotation of the annular body I6 is required for each oscillatory movement of the coupling member I64, the movement of the latter in the clockwise direction may be restricted by means of a projection I82 on the member I64 co-acting with a cam I84 on a controlling shaft I86. When this shaft is adjusted in the clockwise direction, the cam I84 will abut on the projection I82 and turn the member I64 in the anticlockwise direction so that the roller I58 will be lifted from the ledge I56. Accordingly a part only of the oscillatory movement of the arm I52 will be transmitted to the member I64 with the result, that the latter will perform a small oscillatory movement only.

The purpose of making the arms I38 swingable is to produce a small retractlve movement of the plungers at th end of the discharge stroke as the plungers I26 will be driven to andfro in t eir corresponding cylinder bores in a similar manner This is obtained mainly by halt; 9.

iitialmos tion thereby produci a, small Mentioned; in; connection with. the; embodhnent':

fir. des rib d-ii v r in will ts e i hat; f; e; o eri sh wn; n;

Fi -1.- 1 emes i t -1- h n sc ar e: s roke n? the; po iti na owm nl el tion to e am: ie e; 16 as all w nei elm m n the ar- 3,8 l inhe, unter-cl kwis dir ction; i l: RlDd- Gl-Zs t e? tractiveg; l n e mov ment: aimed at. This movement,;,w cm-ought; t(:) r bB1 Th mit 4; -lm ans ears, I883; n1

howna t he dv o an; rm; 4 ecured-atom arm I94 is transmitted to a shaft I98-;by;-mea nslinkg 2lln zand1an arrrr, 202: Onthe shaft is ;sec,u1te d a earn; 204;. co-operating; with a;

roller." 2 1 t; 1- ne end: of.-

pu d 3 th ther ndzo v whichis-piv ted t the armol38i; 0

N 9; he 511 15 353 e m e ents of ;'the W shafts llceand;IBIleare; so timednthat when the PHIHH slat me ndoia delivery r e; thetrcner ontheaarm I 94 runsflow-n; a; substantial; radial,

d e 1 n; he; cam1,, his v-wiuiproduce: a;

dden; ount rlock ise mo em nt orthe sha IBBL-with; thQgl'ESll-lt, that thew-roller 206 rapidly;

i run v wn hearnal]! nd/th t the arm; J38

will; be swung; rapidly; in the counter clockwiser direction-by; means of (a springaas schematically,

hown t; ,l2-, therebya r due nea h mallv evtraction ofl ezpluneersm n one iabovei- Whena the uniformly i rea inemante i he; am: I92 ther a t r; is activei-thershaft l 98 iw lp eswun he term; s. swun slowly; bac it The; oscillatory; mov me t; of. the;

thQSE-shown at. Y the; front-- end' of: the; pump; for:- moving; the arm-l I38 will also be present at the back enclaforz moving the arm at that end; evem ifthey are not1-shown-.-- If; desired; also the:-

means -si-rnilarto those :shown at one end thereof.-

My invention is not restricted to the-special embodimentsshoWn -an-d d-escribed,which-are-gto bez -r.,egarded aseexamples: only, as the same =may be; altered in various ways without departing;

from the spirit ofatheinvention. 1

I c-laims V 1; A casting apparatus for: use in 7 machines for casting; chocolate/andthe: like, comprising a.- rotatable annular body; having. a number of I circumferentially -spaced cylinder bores debouching; at its, circumference vpistons movable-in I the a cylinder bores; and a casing in which said-body is-arranged, said-wasingand body; together form-,-

inggat; a :part of the circumference Of'113h85 body; a -chamber;for-the mass to be cast-said casing bearing against jthe'body at another part of its} circumference; and: forming: together" with; saidl body at= least-1 one-:cavity extendihg circumfer entially over at least two adjacent cylinder bores and providedwvith adischarge opening.

2. A casting ..apparatus as set forth: in' claim 1 invwhich: at least one cam isle-arranged *for dis placing;;the,: pistonsaoutwardlyvduringe the rota?- tionv of the-annular bodywhen the pistons are passing the said cavity, means ibeingi provided" for movingthe camatsthe en-d' ofreachz casting operation in' order-Tito impart :towthe: pistons-a small retractive' motion to rapidly: interrupt. th discharge of .the mass. 7

31 A castingapparatusas set forth inv claimwl, in? which the anularvbodyin axial direction has a number jo fcaligned=zcy1inder bores V anolappen:

tainingspist'ons, the'casingzb'eing provided with" an interchangeable insertion piece i by which a":

number; of; axially-aligned cylinder bores can be connected to arcommonoutlet opening.

KAI CHRISTIAN SOPHUS AASTEDJ 

